Top Of The Charts: Tight End

Previous Positions: QB | RB | WR |

Tight end is another room where the Buckeyes hold an edge over most of the league and most of the nation with the addition of Max Klare from Purdue. That goes with a room that already had proven names like Will Kacmarek and names waiting to emerge like Jelani Thurman.

But the point of this series is not about who Ohio State has, rather who Ohio State must face in the upcoming season. Once again, the Buckeyes duck a couple of the top tight ends in the league due to scheduling, but you can only play who the computer picks for you to play and there is a mix of known names and potential names for the Buckeyes.

It should come as no surprise that Texas continues to put names on the list of players that the Buckeyes have to face, that game will be a top five (or better) matchup between the Buckeyes and Longhorns.

Penn State and Michigan both get on the list once again, but this time around, it is based on just what each school has done at the position more than who the name may be. Tyler Warren (Penn State) and Colston Loveland (Michigan) are gone, but each program seems to know how to keep the position relevant and it is just next name up.

But as we are less than two months away from the start of the 2025 Ohio State football schedule, who are the top tight ends that the Buckeyes will face in the regular season?

5. Luke Reynolds – Penn State (November 1^st)

Penn State has had a run of tight ends to be noticed, and it appears that Luke Reynolds will be the next man up. It is hard to get much oxygen in a room with Tyler Warren but with the talented TE/FB off to the NFL, it is Reynolds’ room and with all of the expectations on Penn State and a lot of new blood in the wide receiver room, there should be ample opportunity for Reynolds to build on his meager numbers from 2024.

4. Marlin Klein – Michigan (November 29^th)

We can change the names and just copy and paste the last segment because it is the same deal at Michigan, with Klein having a couple more catches and zero scores in 2024. Klein is a rare foreign national to make these lists and his being from Germany doesn’t really change any of the thoughts or expectations, it just makes for an interesting punchline for fans of The Simpsons. Michigan may have more questions in its passing game at both quarterback and wide receiver, so this could be a bigger year for Klein than Reynolds as a safety net, hence why we gave him the one spot edge.

3. Jameson Geers – Minnesota (October 4^th)

Geers is the first known quantity of the list and while his numbers are not eye-popping, there are not many teams that run their offense through the tight end, at least top teams. Geers had 28 catches and four scores last season and should be a good complement to a strong running game under PJ Fleck. If we are being honest, none of these tight ends will have numbers that will remind anyone of Ryan Williams (Bama) or Jeremiah Smith as pass catchers, but we need to be thorough, and it would be a bad look to skip over the tight ends just for the sake of expediency.

2. Tanner Koziol – Wisconsin (October 18^th)

Okay, we found our first tight end with numbers that reflect an offense that ran the offense through the position. The one-time Ball State tight end is a big target at 6-foot-7 but also possesses the pass catching abilities of someone much smaller. Now, how does that work in the Wisconsin offense? Your guess is as good as ours since the Badgers offense has been poor to quite poor since Luke Fickell took over and is now on his next offensive coordinator. But Koziol certainly has the tools to be a difference maker and a reminder of Wisconsin tight ends of the past.

1. Jack Endries – Texas (August 30^th)

The portal is just a daily thing in college football and Cal’s loss is Texas’ gain with the movement of Jack Endries. The talented tight end had 56 grabs for 623 yards and two scores last season and will step in for Gunnar Helm from last season. Texas is constructed much like Ohio State on offense, and you wonder why the offense really needs a tight end to function, at least as an eligible receiver. But looking at the stats will show that Texas relied on Helm more than you may have expected and that should carry over to Endries, a player who has already proven that he can shoulder the load.

Go to discussion...